The Chicago Outfit and Real Estate
Oak Park (where I live and have my office) is mostly known for its two most famous residents, Frank Lloyd Wright and Ernest Hemingway. But Oak Park and River Forest (the village next to it) have also been home to lots of famous gangsters. Yesterday I attended "Welcome to the Neighbor Hood," a guided trolley tour of gangster homes in Oak Park and River Forest. During the course of the tour, I learned a couple of interesting points from the real estate side of things:
1. It's hard to track where gangsters lived because many of them took title to their homes using land trusts (or had a third party take title for them).
2. If they decide to sell, the owners of a gangster's home may be able to extract a premium in terms of price. Of course, the amount of the premium depends largely on the fame of the gangster. Despite its humble appearance, Sam "Momo" Giancana's home at 1147 South Wenonah in Oak Park could probably be sold for quite a bit of money, because Mr. Giancana was very famous (he dated Phyllis McGuire of the McGuire Sisters and briefly shared a mistress with JFK) and because he was murdered in the basement of the home. The homes of lesser or forgotten gangsters may attract no premium at all. By the way, if you're interested in buying a gangster's home, 1407 North Ashland in River Forest (a huge ranch home, complete with walk-in vault in the basement) may be on the market soon -- the home was built for and occupied by Anthony "Joe Batters" Accardo. However, the asking price is said to be around $2 million.
The "Welcome to the Neighbor Hood" tours have been so popular that they've been expanded to a number of different dates, but the last group of tours will be held next weekend (here is the info -- you'll want to call and make sure spots are still open).
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